Metal Mouth Message Board

For me the lower Hawleys were a little harder to get used to, mainly because they are a lot snugger than the uppers (in my case at least).

Although retainers in general are a cakewalk compared to the braces.

Congratulations Eve, you finally made it through that long long haul and now you have a beautiful smile to show for it! Enjoy!

Wow, excellent result! Amazing they got it all done in 14 months!
I know what you mean about smiling. Its almost like you have to relearn.
Congratulations and enjoy.

Hey fellow braces-wearers, I finished up my 2.5 year braces sentence almost a year ago (thankfully) and should be released from 24-7 retainer wear at my next ortho followup in a few weeks. (By the way, retainers are a piece of cake compared to the braces). Anyhow I went to my regular medical doctor ...

It goes really quick. I think it took maybe 20 minutes for mine. After they take off the wires the prongs on the brackets are exposed. They squeeze those prongs together with a pliers and the bracket breaks away from the tooth surface. Not painful. Pulling the molar bands off can be a little more in...

I put the nail side of my thumbs against the fronts of the lower teeth - push up and catch the bottom of the front wire with my thumbnails. Pops right off every time (and my lower Hawley is very tight fitting). Works for me. I think its one of those things you develop a natural feel for very quickly...

The hard thing is teaching them how to floss...

I have one tooth on the bottom row that has started to wobble a little bit when I press on it quite hard. Well - don't do that! :? The loose tooth thing is very unnerving but I think it's pretty typical and a natural part of the process of moving your teeth around. I had it too. Don't worry about it.

Great topic! Thanks for posting this. I just got braced in January. Hmmm... maybe Hubby and I should get Lasik before the end of the year. After having already paid for my braces we could probably write that whole expense off. My wife and I both had Lasik earlier this year. Having both in the same ...

I am guessing that they are planning on repositioning some your brackets the get the teeth to move exactly the way the ortho wants. Yep - that's exactly what happens. I had that a couple times during my treatment. It's good news because it means your teeth have been moving. You'll be really underwh...

I've had Hawleys top and btm for about 3 months now, and have tried to be very careful about always removing them before eating or drinking anything. Even with that, and regular cleaning of them, the plastic parts on both have developed a few spots of "plaque" that I have had to scrape awa...

Holly, what a lovely smile - congratulations!

Isn't it great to eat popcorn again? That was a real reward for me too.

Unfortunately, elastics don't always come right at the end of the process. Everybody's treatment is different. I got elastics within the first 6 months and had them for most of my 2.5 years in braces. Also it may look like you are "almost done" but there can be a lot of small adjustments t...

Hmm, almost sounds like it could be an allergic thing.
I wonder if the molding compound has latex in it? Some ppl are allergic to that. Hope you get over it soon!

Marta, what a beautiful smile, you look fantastic and must be thrilled!

Congratulations on enduring through that long process! You know now it was worth it.

Enjoy your lovely new smile!